I don't mean to be offensive
in the message that I'm going to bring to you this morning,
but I want to sound a note that I desperately feel needs to be
sounded in this day. I'm going to preach to you a
message I believe is not being preached, and it needs to be.
And that subject is the Lordship of Jesus Christ, the Lordship
of Jesus Christ. Now, if you have your Bibles,
I'd like you to open them, first of all, to the Book of Romans,
chapter 9, verse 9 and 10. Now listen to this, Romans 10,
verse 9 and 10. Listen to verse 9, that if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus to be Lord, Jesus to be
Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. But with the heart man believeth
under righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus to the Lord. And then the other verse is found
in Philippians chapter 2. Now the scripture tells us in
Philippians chapter 2 that God hath highly exalted Christ and
given him a name which is above every name. that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue should confess
that he is Lord Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father now let me make some preliminary remarks some introductory comments
and I want you to listen to them and I want you to be patient
and I want you to pray about this message and I want you to
ask God to give you an open heart to receive it because it's the
truth Now, first of all, there is a nominal Christianity in
our day, which is accepted and approved of most men, a nominal
Christianity. Most churches have a thousand
members or 800 members, and only a small percentage of those members
worship God, read the Bible, pray, walk in holiness. In other
words, there's a nominal, accepted, approved, so-called Christianity
in this day. But the pure gospel, the true
gospel of God's saving mercy and saving grace in Jesus Christ
is just as much rejected and just as much despised of men
as it was 1,900 years ago. Paul calls what we're hearing
today another gospel. Now, that's in 2 Thessalonians,
or 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse 3 and 4. He says Satan
has deceived us, he's deceived us, and we're hearing another
gospel. and we're hearing about another
Jesus. Now there is a pitiful and weak
and helpless Jesus of modern interpretation, and Paul calls
this Jesus another Jesus. He said you're hearing about
another Jesus. It's not the Christ of the Bible,
and there is a meek, weak, pitiful, helpless Jesus of modern interpretation
who is accepted by men today as their Savior from hell. But
the Christ of the Bible, The Christ of God is as unknown and
unrecognized and rejected as he was 1,900 years ago by his
own nation. That's right, we have a Jesus
being preached today, and this Jesus is being accepted today. And he's being accepted as men's
Savior from hell, but the Christ of God, the Christ of the Bible,
the Christ of glory, the sovereign Lord, of Lords and King of Kings
is just as unknown and unrecognized as he was 1,900 years ago, just
as rejected. The Scripture says in John 1,
10, he was in the world and the world knew him not. They knew
him not. Jesus Christ as prophet, as preacher,
as teacher, as healer, miracle worker, reformer, even Savior,
men will preach about They'll sing about, they'll write about,
but Jesus Christ, as exalted, ascended, sovereign, Lord of
heaven and earth, King of kings and Lord of lords, men will not
tolerate. He was in this world and the
world knew him not. The world 1900 years ago knew
him as Mary's son. They said, why, is not this Mary's
son? Do not we know his mother and
father? Do we not know his brothers and sisters? Is not this the
carpenter? Is not this the preacher, the
healer? They knew him as Mary's son, as the healer, as the carpenter,
as the reformer, but they did not know him as God. They did
not know him as sovereign Lord. Our Lord said to the disciples,
whom do men say that I am? And the disciples said, well,
some say you're John the Baptist. Some say you're Elijah, who's
come back from the dead. Some say you're one of the prophets.
Some say you're a great man. But he said, whom do you say
that I am? And Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Men today talk about Jesus Christ,
they preach about Jesus Christ, and write about Jesus Christ,
and chant about him in the cathedrals as a reformer, as a prophet,
as a preacher, as a healer, as a miracle worker, even as a savior.
But how many times have you heard men talking about him as the
sovereign Lord of Lords and King of Kings? One day they took up
stones to stone him, and he said, Many good works have I done among
you, for which of these do you stone me? And they said, We don't
stone you because of a good work. We know you do good works, but
we stone you because you are a man and you claim to be God.
You can't be God. You can't be the Lord. You can't
be the living God. And that's the character in which
they rejected him. The world 1,900 years ago would
receive Jesus Christ to heal their diseases. They brought
him the sick. They brought him the infirm.
They brought him the crippled. They brought him the lame and
the blind and the deaf and asked him to heal them. They would
accept him as a healer? There was no argument there at
all. They would accept him as a reformer. even as a Jewish
king, to get the shackles of Rome from off their feet and
the fetters of Rome from around their necks. While he rode into
Jerusalem, they said, Hail, him that cometh in the name of the
Lord, hail, king of the Jews, and so forth. If he had set up
an earthly kingdom and restored Israel to its days of glory and
the throne to the days of David's glory, they would have been well
satisfied. They would accept him as a healer,
they would accept him as a reformer, as a politician, They would accept
him as one who fed their bodies. They followed him because of
the loaves and fishes. They said, well, we won't have
to work anymore. This fella can turn five loaves and two fish
into enough food for the whole outfit. Well, we'll just let
him feed us. They would accept Jesus Christ
as an almsgiver, but they would not receive him as Lord, as sovereign
Lord. They said, we'll not have this
man reign over us. We will not bow to this man,
Jesus Christ. We will not have him reign over
us. They'll take Jesus of Nazareth to heal their diseases. They'll
take Jesus of Nazareth to give them a peace on this earth and
prosperity and wealth and health and happiness and a happy home
and well bodies. And they'll take him to prosper
them and feed them, but they will not bow to him as their
sovereign Lord and as their master. And yet he said to his disciples,
you call me Lord and master. And you say, well, for so I am. You call me Lord and Master,
and you say, well, so I am. And no man can call Jesus Lord
but by the Holy Spirit. Now you turn to Philippians chapter
2. What I'm saying is this, that the gateway to the kingdom of
God is to recognize the royal claims of King Jesus. I'm saying
that the gateway into the kingdom of God, the doorway of salvation,
is to bow to and receive and confess Jesus Christ to be Lord
of your life. If thou shalt confess with thy
mouth Jesus, not to be a doormat, not to be a fire escape from
hell, not to be an insurance policy to turn to just before
you die, but to be the Lord of your life. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. Bow to Christ. Surrender to Christ. receive Christ's scepter and
lordship, that's the gateway to the kingdom of God. The leper,
when our Lord came down off that mountain, the leper ran and fell
at his feet and worshipped him and he said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me whole. Does that sound like he's looking
to a pitiful, weak, helpless, defeated, frustrated reformer?
No, sir. He recognized the power of Christ,
the authority of Christ, the lordship of Christ, and he pleaded
for the mercy of a sovereign Lord. The thief on the cross. We know that he went to heaven.
Christ said he did. Christ said, today shalt thou
be with me in paradise. How did he address the Lord?
Here was a man dying in his sin, and he said to the other thief,
do you not fear God? Where is the fear of God today?
Well, we and God are buddies. We have a familiarity with deity. We talk about me and Jesus got
a good thing going, you know, Jesus is my buddy-buddy. But
this man says, don't you fear God, seeing you in the same condemnation
and we indeed justly? This man had done nothing amiss
and he turned to Christ and he said, Lord, Lord, remember me
when you come into your kingdom. You're a king, you're a sovereign,
you're a Lord, you remember me. Our master turned to him, and
that was the only man saved on Golgotha's hill. And he said,
today shalt thou be with me in paradise. What about the publican
in the temple who came beating upon his breast and confessing
his sin? And how did he cry? Good buddy,
Lord Jesus, I'm going to let you into my heart. Good buddy,
Lord Jesus, I'm going to let you save. No, sir, he cried out
as he smote upon his breast and would not so much as lift his
eyes to heaven. He cried, Lord, be merciful to
me, the sinner. Let thy blood be propitiation
upon the mercy saved. O Lord, be reconciled to me through
the blood of thy dear Son." One day there was a man came to the
Savior and he said, Lord, my servant is sick. He was a Roman
centurion. He was a man of great influence
and authority. And he said, Lord, my servant
is sick. And the master said, well, I'll go to your house and
I'll minister to him. He said, Lord, you don't have
to go to my house. Now he said, I'm a man of authority.
I understand authority. And you don't have to go to my
house. All you have to do is say the word and my servant will
be healed. And our Lord turned and he said,
I haven't found faith like that. No, not even in Israel. Go thy
way, thy servant liveth. Authority. Authority. Jesus Christ
is Lord. He's the sovereign Lord. And
I hear people talk about him being a healer and talk about
him being a prophet and a reformer. and a preacher and a teacher
and an example and all these things, but they haven't gotten
to the real gospel yet. Jesus Christ is Lord. Now let
me show you where he is, where he is. And you can't preach the
gospel if you don't preach where Christ is and the authority of
his office. If you turn to Philippians chapter
2, verse 6, you'll find there who Christ is. He thought it
not robbery to be equal with God. who being in the form of
God. See, chapter 2, verse 6, who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery, taking something
that didn't belong to him, or by force, as Satan tried to take
it and Adam tried to take it, but he is God, equal with God. And then it tells how he came.
He made himself of no reputation. He took upon himself the form
of a servant. He was made in the likeness of
flesh. In other words, God came down to earth. Emmanuel, God
with us. Right here on the earth, Jesus
Christ is none other than God incarnate. God in human flesh. That's how he came. Bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh. Tempted, tested, tried in all
points as we are, yet without sin. He was a man. The son of
man and the son of God in one. Then if you look there at verse
8, you'll see what he did. It says there, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
But now, my friends, you're not through there. That's not the
end of that passage. That's not the end of the gospel
message. That's not the end of the message God sent us to declare.
Look at verse 9. And if we don't go on and preach
this next verse, we have failed God and failed our heroes, and
we've given them a false image of Christ and a false picture
of Christ. He's not just one who came to the earth in human
flesh and clothed himself with human rags and went to the cross
and died as an example. He went there to die as a substitute.
He went there to die as a sin offering and a sacrifice. He
was buried and rose again. Now watch verse 9. Wherefore
God hath highly exalted him. and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall
bow in heaven." We're talking about the angels and the cherubims
and the seraphims. Every knee shall bow in heaven,
on earth, kings and paupers and princes and prisoners and rich
men and poor men, every knee in earth and every knee under
there, even in hell. And every tongue shall confess
that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Now, if you
don't preach where Christ is now, exalted, ascended and exalted
at the right hand of God, you're not preaching the gospel. You're
not preaching the complete gospel. Let me tell you this. If Jesus
Christ is exalted at God's right hand, if he has been brought
from the dead, Ascended to heaven and seated at the right hand
of God equal with the father If he's been seated on the right
hand of God the place of acceptance and power and authority and love
Then everything else about him is easy to believe you take the
virgin birth. There's no problem How else will
a sovereign God be born on the earth? He certainly couldn't
have a human father or he would partake of human sin What about
his sinless life? Why it's easy to believe how
else will a sovereign God conduct himself? except without sin. You're talking about his crucifixion,
his atonement, his infinite sacrifice. What other kind of sacrifice
could a sovereign God yield than an infinite sacrifice, an immutable
sacrifice, an effectual sacrifice? His resurrection? Well, you couldn't
keep a sovereign God in the tomb. But if Jesus Christ is not ascended
and he's not seated at the right hand of God, then you have every
reason to doubt everything anybody says about him. You can't be
sure. But if he is at God's right hand, if he is exalted to the
right hand of the majesty on high, then God hath declared
him to be Lord of all. That's right. His ascension and
his exaltation to the right hand of God demonstrates that he is
the Messiah, that he is the Christ, that he is the Lord. By resurrection,
he shows himself to be the Son of God. That's what Paul said
in Romans 1. He has been raised and declared to be the Son of
God. But his exaltation at the right hand of God shows him to
be the Lord. Do you see that? His resurrection
shows him to be the Son of God. His exaltation shows him to be
the Lord. Now, his exaltation didn't effect
his Lordship. Any more than his sinless life
made him without sin. He was already without sin, and
he lived a sinless life. Any more than his resurrection
gave him power over death, he already had power over death.
And he showed it by rising from the tomb. And his exaltation
to the right hand of God doesn't make him Lord. He was already
Lord. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. And Colossians 1.18 said, And
all things were made by him, and in him we live and move and
have our being, and by him all things consist. But by his sinless
life, sin is shown to be in subjection to him. And by his resurrection,
death is shown to be in subjection to him. And by his exaltation
to the right hand of God, all things are shown to be in subjection
to him. He has all power. You know what
he said in John 17 too? He was praying just before he
went to the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ was praying. And he said,
Father, the hour has come. Glorify thy son, that thy son
may glorify thee, as thou hast given him authority over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast
given him. I have all authority over all flesh. And then when
Peter closed his mighty message on Pentecost, you know how he
closed it? He didn't close it like most evangelists do today.
He didn't close it by trying to get people to feel sorry for
Jesus. He didn't close it trying to get some pity from the hearts
of people for Jesus. You know, that's so sad today
when a preacher stands up and makes a beggar out of the Son
of God and tries to get those sinners out there to do something
for Jesus. Oh, what will you do with Jesus? Well, that's not
the question. The question, my friend, is what
he's going to do with you. You're not going to do anything
with Jesus. Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father.
He was there when you were born, and he'll be there when you're
cast into hell. And you're not going to change
that. He has all power and all authority and all majesty. He's
the eternal Lord. He's not the pitiful, helpless,
Reformer that people have made him out to be and Peter didn't
close his message on Pentecost with a sad Sentimental emotional
plea for people to do something for Jesus. You know how he closed
it Here's the way closed it acts chapter 2 verse 36. He said let
all the house of Israel know This way these were his last
remarks. I want every one of you to know He was preaching
the Jews from every nation and tongue unto heaven He said I
want every one of you to know that God hath made that same
Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Christ." That's
who he is. He's exalted. He is almighty. He is sovereign. He is the Lord,
and he'll do with you what he will. That's what Peter said.
And that's when those folks fell down and cried, men and brethren,
what shall we do? Nobody had to get them to raise
their hands or raise both hands or come down the aisle and repeat
some little silly prayer that the preacher says. Those people
were smitten in their hearts. They were broken in their souls.
Their foundations were swept from under them. They realized
that they were lost under the wrath of God, and Jesus Christ,
the sovereign Lord, whom they had rejected and despised and
spit upon and nailed to a cross, was now at the right hand of
God, exalted as the Lord of the universe. And they were scared.
Nobody's scared today. This little pitiful, sentimental,
emotional superstar that people are preaching and calling Jesus
Christ, why should you be afraid of him? He can't do anything.
He has no power. But I'll tell you this, Jesus
Christ, the God of the Bible, has power. It says in Hebrews
10, verse 12, this man, Jesus Christ, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. You know what the Bible says
about Jesus Christ? It says he has all authority in heaven and
earth. All authority. That's right.
In Matthew 28, verse 18, he said to his disciples, all authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth. Do you know what it says
in Ephesians 1.22? That God has put all things under
his feet. That's right. This Jesus of Nazareth
who was crucified and buried and rose again, he now, by the
power and wisdom and purpose of God the Father, has everything
under his feet. All things. Do you know that
all flesh, all power over all flesh is given to him? That's
John 17, 2. Do you know that all judgment has been committed
to him? John 5, 22, the Father judges
no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. That's right,
all judgment. And then do you know that all
revelation is committed to Christ? He said no man knoweth the Father
save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. If you
ever know God, He'll be revealed to you by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, my friends, how can you rightly call on the name of the
Lord if you do not know his name? You may be calling on the wrong
Jesus, that Jesus that Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11, 3 and 4,
another Jesus. You may be being motivated by
another spirit. You may be hearing another gospel.
If you're not hearing of the exalted Lord, of the sovereign
Lord, of the ascended Lord, of the conquering Lord, of the Lord
who has all authority and all power in heaven and earth, you're
not hearing the name of Jesus Christ. If thou shalt confess
with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, thou shalt be saved. Over in
Romans chapter 10, verse 13, that same chapter, it says, Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. On whose name? On the name of
the Lord. Not a weak, pitiful, helpless
Jesus. That's not whose name you call on. That name can't
save anybody. But if you call on the name of
the Lord, you shall be saved. And I'm asking you today, are
you calling on the name of the Lord? Who is your Lord? Are you calling on the name of
the Lord? Are you calling on some pitiful, helpless servant?
Are you calling on a defeated Reformer? Upon whom are you calling? What is his name? Are you calling
on the exile who's gone out yonder waiting and watching to see what
you'll do? Or are you calling on him who
has the power to save to the uttermost them that come to God
by him? Are you calling on him who has
the power to keep that which you committed unto him against
that day? Are you calling on him who has the power to do all
that he promised, who has the power to raise your vile body
and make it like unto his glorious body? Who is this Lord? You get
that Romans 10 13 and underscore that word name whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord You know when Paul was on the
road to Damascus and that great light shone about him and he
fell down blinded groveling in the dust and that boy spoke from
heaven and said Saul Saul why persecutest thou me and Saul
lifted those sightless eyes to heaven and he said who art thou
Lord and And he said, I'm Jesus of Nazareth whom you persecuted.
That's who I am. I have the power to knock you
off that horse. I have the power to take your
sight. I have the power to put you down in the dust of humility.
I have the power to take your life. I'm Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, Lord, what will
you have me do? Lord, do you know him in that
vein, in that character? Do you know him in that power?
When our Lord was going to the cross, the disciples needed some
reassurance. They needed some hope. They needed
some help. Their Lord was leaving them, and they called him Lord.
They never called him Jesus. They called him Lord. Or they
wrote about Jesus of Nazareth, but that's the Holy Spirit doing
the writing there. When the disciples addressed our Lord, or when they
addressed anyone making reference to our Lord, they called him
Lord and Master. And when he was leaving them,
he said to them, let not your heart be troubled. You believe
in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. And I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there you may be also. I have that power. I have that
authority. I am the sovereign Lord, and
all things have been committed to me. And I go to heaven to
possess it. Is that your Lord? Is Christ
your Lord? What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? For the Christ
of the Bible is the sovereign, immutable, eternal, infinite,
unchangeable Lord.